She may have been at Badminton but Janet Houghton has another event on her mind - the 2017 Melbourne International 3 Day Event
Hugh Thomas may have been the main man last weekend but we caught up with another International Event Director, Janet Houghton, at Badminton
Janet is the Event Director for the Melbourne International 3 Day Event in Australia which this year celebrates its 60th anniversary (yes folks, Melbourne is just eight years younger than the great Badminton Horse Trials) and there is plenty planned for the winter event held just outside of Melbourne at Werribee Park
The event, which runs over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend from 8th – 12th June, will kick off on Thursday with a 60th anniversary party in the evening after the first horse inspection. Past winners will be the guests of honour (there have been 58 winners so far with no winner in 1959 due to the event being rained off on the final day) but all are welcome with tickets being very reasonably priced at $30 for some fancy food in a glammed-up indoor arena
There is plenty happening on other evenings too with the Young Event Horse class taking place on Friday and eventer/racehorse pre-trainer Rob Palm presenting the Morphettville to Melbourne Masterclass sponsored by Godolphin on Saturday
During the day the new Dorian Club (named after the first winning horse) will be the perfect place for owners and riders to get together, compliments of the event, while the general public can also buy membership tickets to access the Club’s facilities and of course there are the VIP Marquees for top notch hospitality on Saturday, Sunday and Monday
But the big news is that Melbourne International 3 Day Event will this year host the FEI Oceania Championships with Australia and New Zealand teams going head to head at Senior and Young Rider levels – this is going to be good! And to top it all, the event will be the subject of a TV programme to be aired later in the year on Channel 7. Janet tells us more ......
Janet Houghton
